This invention relates to a lug nut magazine that is used with a drive impact tool to mount and remove lug nuts from the wheel hubs of an automobile or other wheeled vehicle. Although the magazine may be used under any circumstances in which a user needs to change a tire on a vehicle, the magazine is ideally suited for use in those instances in which one or more tires must be quickly changed, such as during a pit stop made during a road or track race.
Individuals who must change a tire under race conditions are faced with the challenge of loosening the lug nuts on the studs of a wheel well, raising the tire off of the ground, removing the lug nuts from the studs, ensuring that the removed nuts are corralled and not lost, replacing the tire, retrieving the lug nuts, replacing and tightening the lug nuts on the studs, and then lowering the new tire back onto the groundxe2x80x94all in error-free, rapid succession. Given the number of steps involved and short period of time available, this task is virtually impossible to execute without mechanical assistance. While prior art devices exist which permit a user to quickly remove, replace, and store lug nuts during the tire-changing process, such devices lack the internal components necessary to make such a high-speed process run smoothly. Specifically, such devices lack sufficient stabilizing features to ensure that the lug nuts are received within and dispensed from the device in a controlled, yet rapid manner, and do not prevent the lug nuts from jamming within and destroying the operability of the device.
The present invention solves these problems by providing a lug nut magazine having unique, internal detent and guide structures that cooperate with an internal displacer which is connected to and moved by an external displacer ring for allowing lug nuts to slide smoothly through the interior of the magazine. The magazine of the present invention does not require the use of compression springs or ball bearings. Furthermore, unlike prior art devices which often require multiple release mechanisms to be simultaneously, identically manipulated for the device to function properly, removal of lug nuts from the present invention is achieved by simply urging the external displacer ring toward the open end of the magazine. The lug nut magazine of the present invention offers a reliable removal, storage, and dispensing device that permits its user to rapidly change a tire without losing the lug nuts, having to dislodge nuts jammed within the device, or having to resort to time-consuming, manual installation of the lug nuts.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lug nut magazine adapted for use with a drive impact tool that permits rapid removal and replacement of lug nuts positioned on the studs of a wheel hub.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lug nut magazine that includes an internal chamber having features which prevent lug nuts stored therein from jamming as they are positioned within and dispensed from the chamber.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lug nut magazine that includes uniquely-shaped detent arms that maintain lug nuts within the magazine in the absence of pressure on an externally-located dispenser ring, which in turn causes movement of the nuts toward the dispensing end of the magazine.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lug nut magazine that is formed from readily available materials and components which are easy and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and supply.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a lug nut dispenser adapted for use with a drive impact tool for mounting and removing a plurality of lug nuts from a wheel hub. The dispenser has a housing including interior and exterior walls. The interior wall defines an elongate chamber adapted for receiving the lug nuts therein. The housing also has an upstream end adapted for releasably receiving the drive impact tool, and a downstream end defining a port communicating with the chamber for permitting consecutive release and ejection of the lug nuts therethrough. A displacer ring is carried on the exterior wall of the housing and is adapted for sliding movement relative thereto. A displacer is connected to the displacer ring and extends through a slot defined by and extending through the housing and into the elongate chamber. The displacer is adapted for sliding movement along the slot relative to the chamber for moving the nuts in a downstream direction in response to movement of the displacer ring. The displacer includes a radially and inwardly-extending shoulder for engaging adjacent radially and inwardly-extending faces of a nut positioned in the chamber for providing a first stabilizing surface for permitting sequential, axially-aligned movement of the nuts through the chamber. The lug nut dispenser also includes at least two spaced-apart, flexible detent arms. Each of the detent arms has a first end connected to the interior wall and a second end extending away from the first end and toward the downstream end of the housing. The second end includes an inwardly-extending tip and is movable between a nut-retaining position wherein the inwardly-extending tip engages and retains the nut within the chamber in the absence of movement of the nuts toward the downstream end, and a nut-dispensing position, wherein the dispenser urges the nuts toward the downstream end to cause the second end of the detent arm to move away from the nut positioned adjacent the downstream end, thereby releasing the nut and allowing ejection of the nut through the port.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the lug nut dispenser includes at least one inwardly-projecting guide positioned on the interior wall and extending along the length of the chamber between the downstream and upstream ends of the housing. The guide is adapted for engaging a complementary side of the nut for providing a second stabilizing surface for permitting the sequential, axially-aligned movement of the nuts through the chamber.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the lug nut dispenser includes a plurality of spaced-apart, inwardly-projecting guides positioned on the interior wall and extending along the length of the chamber between the downstream and upstream ends of the housing. Each of the guides is adapted for engaging a respective one of a plurality of complementary sides of the nut. The guides cooperate together for collectively providing a second stabilizing surface for permitting the sequential, axially-aligned movement of the nuts through the chamber.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, there are an odd number of inwardly-projecting guides.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, there are three inwardly-projecting guides.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the first end of each of the detent arms is connected to the interior wall adjacent the upstream end of the housing.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the lug nut dispenser includes a radially and outwardly-extending flange formed on a downstream edge of the displacer ring for permitting a user to grasp the displacer ring for urging the displacer ring in the downstream direction, thereby initiating the sequential, axially-aligned movement of nuts through the chamber.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the inwardly-extending tip defines a notch having an inwardly-directed face biased towards and engaging the nut positioned adjacent the downstream end of the housing in the absence of movement of the nuts toward the downstream end.
Each of the detent arms is preferably formed from spring steel.